It is often desirable that, at least in certain circumstances or at certain times, access to a given storage device coupled to a storage area network (SAN) be controlled, restricted or even entirely prevented. Allowing unintended access can be disadvantageous for a variety of reasons, including the reason that it might be inconsistent with maintaining desired levels of security or confidentiality. Yet even to the extent that some conventional SAN systems do provide some type of access control capability (many SAN systems entirely lack such a capability), such systems are still unsatisfactory. To begin with, such conventional SAN systems often are limited in their ability to control or restrict access to the storage devices on an ongoing basis after initial setup of the SAN system has occurred. Additionally, the setting up/configuration of such SAN systems tends to be complicated and to require significant time and effort on the part of technicians or other personnel. For example, in some cases, a manual intervention such as the switching of a physical switch by a human operation is necessary in order to allow a storage device to be accessed by other devices on the SAN. Also, some such conventional SAN systems tend to lack appropriate access control capabilities that are applicable in circumstances where a failure has occurred, e.g., a catastrophic failure associated with a power outage.
Therefore, for at least these reasons, it would be advantageous if improved methods of implementing/operating SAN systems (and corresponding improved SAN systems) could be developed. In particular, in at least some embodiments, it would be advantageous if SAN systems could be set up/configured so as to control or restrict the accessing of one or more storage devices on the SAN in an improved manner relative to conventional SAN systems. Additionally, in at least some embodiments, it would be advantageous if such access control capability could be provided on an ongoing basis even after installation of the storage devices with respect to the SAN had occurred, so as to allow for repeated modifications to any access restrictions. Further, in at least some embodiments, it would be advantageous if (notwithstanding the existence of such an access control capability), the SAN systems nevertheless could be set up and configured (and reconfigured) in a relatively easy manner, without a need for excessive effort on the part of technicians or other personnel in the form of manual intervention or otherwise. Additionally, in at least some embodiments, it would be advantageous if such SAN systems, upon the occurrence of failures, could be relatively easily reinstalled in a manner that largely or entirely maintained desired restrictions on access that existed prior to the failures.